Mobile communication devices have become increasingly common in current society for providing wireless communication services. The prevalence of these mobile communication devices is driven in part by the many functions that are now enabled on such devices. Increased processing capabilities in such devices means that mobile communication devices have evolved from being pure communication tools into sophisticated mobile multimedia centers that enable enhanced user experiences.
The redefined user experience requires higher data rates offered by wireless communication technologies, such as fifth generation new radio (5G-NR) and Wi-Fi that typically operates in higher frequency spectrums. In this regard, a mobile communication may employ a number of different transceiver circuits to concurrently support a number of different wireless communication technologies. To achieve higher data rates with increased robustness in the higher frequency spectrums, the mobile communication devices may also employ multiple antennas to enable multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and/or beamforming operations. Sophisticated power amplifier circuits may be employed to increase output power of radio frequency (RF) signals (e.g., maintaining sufficient energy per bit) prior to transmitting the RF signals from the multiple antennas. However, the increased number of transceiver circuits, antennas, and power amplifier circuits can lead to increased power dissipation in the mobile communication devices, thus compromising overall performance and user experiences.
Envelope tracking (ET) is a power management technology designed to improve efficiency levels of the power amplifier circuits to help reduce power dissipation in the mobile communication device. As the name suggests, an ET system receives an ET target voltage(s), which may be generated by the different transceiver circuits, and generates an ET modulated voltage(s) based on the ET target voltage(s). Accordingly, the power amplifier circuits can be configured to amplify the RF signals based on the ET modulated voltage(s). In this regard, it may be desirable to employ highly flexible power management architecture to support the different transceiver circuits, the antennas, and the power amplifier circuits in the mobile communication device for improved efficiency and performance.